Requiem of Divinity
by anbu713
Summary: 2 years after Yevon's finally thrown down the gang finds the peace they worked so hard to obtain threatened once more, and this time the enemies are stronger then anything they've ever seen, while they're down a member.  Even gods don't get happy endings.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The cold air of the desert night sent a shiver racing through the sweat covered man as he slipped out of the damp cave he'd been in for the past few hours. Pulling on a sweatshirt to ward off the chill he brushed some sand off a rock, sat down, and looked out over the seemingly endless sand of the Bikanel Desert. It was nearly sunrise and the Al Bhed at the HOME restoration project would be getting up soon. They'd been slaving away under the brutal, pounding desert sun for nearly two years and they were painfully close to completing their project. Every time he entered the area he could practically feel the excitement in the atmosphere, like a small jolt of electricity running through his entire body.

Every time he thought back on everything that had taken place he couldn't help but admire the Al Bhed. Between Cid, Gippal, Rikku, and Brother the Al Bhed had managed to gather together their greatest minds just weeks after Vegnagun and Yevon had been dealt with. Since then nothing, thankfully, had threatened the planet and the little group had gone their separate ways, though they still met at least once a month for no better reason then to stay in touch. How much they'd all managed to accomplish in two short years still amazed him.

Matt and Sakura had a little girl a few months earlier, Andy had been wandering around for the past two years to get a general idea of just what had happened while he was gone, Nick had surprised everyone by staying in Besaid and helping coach the blitzball team, Seph and Rae had disappeared after getting Melody and JT to Kilika where they'd taken up the job of helping to sooth tensions that still existed between former Youth League and New Yevon members. Auron, without an explanation of his sudden reappearance, had resumed his role as the wise, quiet instructor to Tidus who had made astonishing progress. He and Rikku had, when the group split up, left for Bikanel Desert to help Cid with the restoration of Home, mostly in securing the area and fighting off the surprisingly resilient fiends.

Lusniec was still at large but nobody bothered chasing him. He was too powerful for anyone, save possibly Andy, and on top of that he wasn't doing anything as far as any of them could tell. At first they'd considered going after him, but after they'd stopped to think about it they decided not to aggravate the powerful angel unless they needed to.

"It's about to come up…" he whispered to the still air. Tendrils of pink, yellow, and red were starting to reach over the tips of the horizon lazily, a quiet display of small beauty to whet the watcher's appetite. Seconds ticked by as the tendrils expanded, then became fingers, then became something akin to the strokes of an artist's paintbrush as they slowly made their way across the sky. He sat quietly and watched one of the most beautiful sunrises he'd seen since setting foot on Spira.

"Sir Ryan?" the voice that snapped him back to reality was ice cold and monotone, a starch contrast to what he'd become familiar with at the HOME restoration project. The 20 year old angel turned his head to face nine oncoming figures, all of them wrapped almost obscured from view by a bank of _fog_. Alarms went off in his head immediately. There weren't any oasis's around here, there was no water around the area for miles. Even _Seph_ wouldn't have been able to summon a bank of fog, even a light one like this.

"Who is it that's asking?" he replied calmly, hoping he was overreacting but somehow knowing he wasn't. It was too unnatural to not worry him.

"I shall take that as a 'yes'," one of the figures, Ryan couldn't be sure which, said as six of them spread out in a circle around he and the other three. "Prepare yourself, _s'argt_. Your time ends now."

"Oh, the _hell_ it does," Ryan said as he stood up and turned to look at each of the six cloaked figures surrounding him before facing the three figures that stood before him. "Only nine of you? I think you may have underestimated me…"

"Unlikely." Ryan frowned at the statement slightly. His bad feeling was rapidly growing into a sense of dread as one of the three figures in the circle drew a giant scythe out from under its cloak. Immediately the air around him began to snap and hiss as it turned purple, and he got the feeling that he may have been a bit quick to judge the group's estimation of his skill as white lights began to drift into the weapon's blade. "Disappear, _dhyn_."

'This is bad…' he thought as he rested a hand on Wind Cutter and watched the three carefully. Something was odd about the whole thing. Though someone had clearly ordered the three to attack, none of them were doing anything. 'What's going on?'

A second later he found out as a chain adorned in spikes shot out of the ground behind him, shattering the rock he'd been sitting on and spraying him with sand. His instincts kicked in and he pushed off as best as he could while on the sand and rolled forward, drawing Wind Cutter and deflecting a shot from the scythe a second before it would have cleaved his face in two. "As you can see we've hardly taken you too lightly. If anything we've overestimated your strengths."

'What the hell is this guy?' Ryan wondered before he pushed everything out of his mind. Focusing completely on the man in front of him he spun to the left, disappearing from underneath the scythe's blade almost instantly and causing the man who'd been trying to overpower him to lurch forward for a fraction of a second as the resistance that had kept him standing disappeared. Not wasting the chance Ryan spun around, a pure red blade cutting through the air towards the cloaked man's neck until a chain wrapped around his wrist and pulled him backwards with nearly enough force to dislocate his shoulder. He cursed as he regained his footing, deep punctures in his arm from the spikes of the chain bleeding him to death slowly. 'Well this could be going much better…'

"You're beginning to understand, yes? That you cannot defeat them? They're the strongest three to every live. You're powerful, sir Ryan, but even you pale before their might."

"You're all a bunch of arrogant fools…" Ryan said with a chuckle as he raised Wind Cutter with his good arm and pointed it at the scythe wielder. "Next move… I'm shattering that scythe of yours pal."

"A bold assumption," the monotone voice stated.

"A declaration of the future," Ryan corrected as he lowered Wind Cutter. "Well? Come on. I haven't got all day you know."

"Very well," the reply came from all of the members of the group that had surrounded him at the same time.

"Geez, it's like dealing with the Fayth all over again…" Ryan muttered before the three warriors charged forward again. A chain flashed in at his head but he simply stepped to the side and let it fly by so closely that it tore the shoulder of his sweatshirt. Ducking he watched as the hammer passed over his head harmlessly while he slid towards its wielder quickly. He saw the cloud of sand that appeared around where the head of the hammer landed and felt a second of resistance as Wind Cutter's blade sank deeper into the man's flesh before flashing out through his side in a bloody arc as Ryan spun in a full circle to cleave the man in two. "Alright… so maybe I cleaved this guy in two rather than breaking the scythe…" he said with a sigh. Even when the people were trying to kill him it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Still, this group wasn't normal. He couldn't afford to hold back, especially with his magic so low. It was hard enough just to stay far enough ahead of them to avoid dying as it was, as much as he hated to admit it. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to retreat…?"

"Do not be a fool," one of the hooded figures shot back as the scythe wielder took at a slash at Ryan's stomach that the angel simply stepped back to avoid.

"No matter how powerful you are you can't defeat us all," another figure added as Ryan ducked under the chain.

'_And no matter how powerful your servants are they can't even touch me…_' Ryan noted as he slipped out of reach of the scythe. Flipping backwards he pulled an elixir out of his pockets. He'd hoped that it wouldn't come to this, but he really did need to test it out in real combat anyway and this group seemed like the perfect people to try it on.

"End it!"

"Gladly," Ryan replied simply as downed the elixir. Almost immediately the ground in a mile wide area hardened into a black, crystal-like surface as a massive blast of air seemed to explode in a circle around the Angel, sending all of the cloaked figures flailing backwards as he leveled his gaze at the pair in front of him. "I'd advise against blinking…"

888

A chill shot up Lusniec's spine as a wave of immense holy power appeared. He turned back towards HOME again, wondering what was going on. It didn't seem possible that someone else could use that… or was it him? There _was_ one other person he knew of that could've summoned that much power, and it wasn't Ryan. "What in the name of Spira would he be doing here…? Unless he was preventing collateral damage he'd have no reason to go that far…" Lusniec mused as a powerful blast of sand slammed into him, partially burying him underneath of it.

'_Should've seen that one coming…_' he thought regrettably. It'd been so long since he'd used or seen someone use that technique that he'd forgotten about that. The sudden explosion of power throughout the user's body tended to blow all the nearby things away, regardless of what they were. Letting out a sigh as he stood up and shook himself free of sand he looked longingly towards the massive spike of energy. It was probably best that he didn't go. He wouldn't have enjoyed seeing Lusniec, not now and not after how they'd left. "Ah well," he stated cheerfully as he headed towards the source of power anyway. What was the worst that could happen after all?

888

"Ready?" Ryan questioned as he glanced around at the peopled gathered around him.

"What is this…?" One of them hissed as it held up an arm to stave off the brilliant light emitting from Ryan. "This power, where did you get it?"

"Nope, that's not part of the game!" Ryan replied with a slight smirk as he raised Wind Cutter. "Now… here we go. Don't blink…" he added with a chuckle before glass and blood flew in every direction, leaving the men gathered around the battlefield stunned and awed as the last two of their warriors dropped to the ground in hundreds of pieces.

"Bastard!" one growled in reply as it wiped away a line of blood that had landed on its face. "Such arrogance in a human is… disgusting. We'll end it he-"

"The only thing you'll be ending with your arms held up to cast as slowly as that…" Ryan replied smugly as he pulled Wind Cutter out of the clothed man's stomach, leaving him to drop to the ground twitching in pain. "Is your life."

"I see… so your specialty is high speed combat. However…" Ryan turned and found vacant, grey eyes burrowing into him. "You're talent is not unknown to me. You're just a Blademage like that annoying pest Lusniec."

"What I am doesn't matter. What I'm going to do to all of you for randomly attacking me like this does…" Ryan replied as he turned to face the man. "Ready to die?"

"I'm always ready to die. Death," the man smiled broadly, revealing rotted and hole-filled teeth, "is just another part of life."

"What the hell do you eat…?" Ryan asked to himself as he pointed Wind Cutter at the man and narrowed his eyes. "I'll do you a favor. I'll cut out all those rotten teeth before I kill you."

"_Fashkan d' elghinn lu' paxi_," Ryan's eyes widened slightly as the air in the dessert turned ice cold and began to smell like decaying corpses left unattended for far too long,_ "vress'lven d'lil cha'kohkev, dregzt nindol wael ulu dosst phreng..._"

Before Ryan could do anything a high-pitched screech tore through the area, dropping everyone except the man who'd spoken in the odd dialect to their knees. A shudder coursed through the Angel's body as bony, ice-cold, vice-like hands wrapped around his body. Screaming in agony at the touch he tried to pull away from them but only succeeded in tearing the back of his sweatshirt off. Something impossibly cold drove its way through his stomach and another through his back, shattering three ribs and puncturing a lung.

The world blurred as a numbness began to spread through is body like a wildfire, only to be replaced seconds later with a comforting warmth that enveloped him in a flash.

888

Formerly vacant grey eyes filled with confusion and horror. His spell had surely ensnared the man and was most definitely killing him in a most painful and slow way but…

Something was wrong. The very air, which should have been filled with the glorious scent of rotting flesh and decomposing corpses, was clean and crisp and warm. Not to mention there was that soothing light emitting from him. It burned his eyes to look at it, but at the same time he couldn't help but look at it as it slowly, but surely, enveloped the man. Blonde hair turned magnificent silver before a wave of light pulsed out of him, incinerating the claws that were so wondrously bringing his life to an end.

Covering his eyes at the last second he could _hear_ the wind howling in protest and outrage, like a tornado bent on a city's destruction. It lasted for seconds, but it seemed like hours to the corrupted Lord of Demise. Even after the presence of the man was gone it continued to protest loudly, threatening do deafen the group despite its decreasing intensity.

"Nergal, wasn't that over-kill…?" the voice was uncertain, on edge, and feminine.

"Silence, **Sirrion," Nergal snapped back as he surveyed the area cautiously. He couldn't feel that wretched Angel's "pure" presence anywhere, but at the same time he couldn't believe that someone who'd completely destroyed his spell would disappear so easily. "That man… if his allies are as powerful as he is we'd be wise to be wary of them. At the very least we should flee this place at once, lest we find ourselves under attack from a bunch of enraged, adolescent demi-gods heaven bent on avenging their fallen guardian."** "**I suppose your mind hasn't decayed as much as the rest of your body," Sirrion shot back, her melodious voice carrying its customary hatred. Nergal snarled in her direction, but his mind was too preoccupied for any more of a retort. What exactly had that one done to his spell? He'd **_**never**_** seen a reaction like that before. Was it just the fact that he was holy being? Or was the spell inadequately tested? He'd have plenty of time to figure it out later. For now they needed to disappear, wait for the rest to come to their own deaths like sheep to the beautiful, bloody slaughter…**


	2. Chapter 2

Wow... I can't believe I'm saying this but, uhhhh... I completely forgot I had this chapter typed up for awhile now .>;;; hides from things being thrown at him Don't kill me! I was wondering why I wasn't getting any reviews anyway, before I start getting e-mails and IMs about it, here it is xP

* * *

Chapter 1

"What's wrong…?" Gippal questioned groggily through a yawn as a pair of stressed out, terrified looking Al Bhed quickly made their way towards him through the piles of half-constructed machina. He shrugged the blanket that had managed to wrap itself haphazardly around his shoulders throughout the night off and glanced at the clock. 6:38 AM? He didn't need to be up for another half hour. Why in the name of Spira were people waking him up early?

"We've got some bad news, Gippal…" the first Al Bhed stated slowly, causing Gippal's eye to narrow. None of the Al Bhed in the new HOME were ever nervous about talking to him. "Ryan's not back yet.

"And you know he's never late. On top of that we detected two unimaginable power-surges in the area he was headed to a half hour ago," the second one said as he held out a clipboard to his one-eyed superior.

Gippal let out a low, helpless sigh as he took the clipboard and glanced over it. He was already getting a bad feeling about this. The man had been right, the readings were off the chart. Whatever had been happening, Ryan had gotten exceedingly serious about it.

That thought terrified him. He'd gotten to know the man well over the past two years, Ryan had practically become the guardian of the new HOME project after all. More then that though he'd gotten to see Ryan when he was fighting, when he wasn't on alert for danger, the few times he'd fallen asleep in Rikku's arms while the trio had been discussing things. Not once in two years had he ever truly seen him serious. Whatever had happened to do that… he shivered at the though.

Shifting his mind away from such a disturbing concept he looked at the two Al Bhed. "When did Ryan start telling people where he trained?" he questioned absently as he stood up and stretched his arms above his head.

"Cid wanted to know where he was going today so he could get in touch with him if anything happened," the first Al Bhed stated as Gippal started towards the doors to the garage.

"Ahhhh… so he's still paranoid. Got it," Gippal stated with a helpless chuckle. He could understand Cid's paranoia, and given these developments they were definitely well founded, though he doubted that Cid had known it would get this bad so quickly. Throwing a switch gears began to grind and the screech of metal filled the area in an almost forlorn, protesting manner. He shivered, he _had_ to be imagining things. He couldn't imagine Ryan ever losing, let alone if he ever got serious.

Then again, up until today he'd never thought he'd live to hear about him getting serious in a fight. Not since his match with Lusniec in the Farplane two years prior. Hopping into the hovercraft he looked at the two rand raised an eyebrow at their lack of movement. "Well, get in. It looks like we're headed into the desert."

xXx

"What in the name of Yevon…?"

"Somehow I doubt that Yevon had anything to do with this…" Gippal replied to the awe-struck Al Bhed as he climbed out of the hovercraft and examined the astonishing scene in front of them. A mile wide area of the desert had been turned to uneven, rough, hardened, jet-black glass or crystal. His heartbeat sounded in his ears as he cautiously stepped into the area, his knife in his hand. He half expected some unimaginably horrific demon to come springing out of the very air in front of them like in those cheap sphere-vids. It would've been appropriate as far as he was concerned. The entire area gave off a feeling of great sorrow, and the wind whistled through the jagged spires that had formed like a quiet requiem. Just being there sent shivers of horror down his spine. The faster that they could get out of there, the better, so far as the former Crimson Squad member was concerned.

"Gippal!" The one-eyed Al Bhed turned to find one of the men who'd come with running towards him, waving a piece of cloth. Gippal opened his mouth to ask what the big deal was only to snap it shut as the man drew closer. He recognized the design and color, though the tan material had turned the color of dried blood and was nearly torn in two. "This is Ryan's! This was the logo on his sweatshirt this morning!"

Gippal swallowed the lump gathering in his throat. "Yeah, that's Ryan's…" he agreed quietly as he examined it. The fact that there was blood here led Gippal to believe that Ryan hadn't simply encountered one of the legendary fiends that were supposed to be lurking about the desert, untouched by civilization for eons. If it had been one of them he doubted there would've been much blood. It would've either obliterated Ryan, or Ryan would've killed it in one shot. "Just because he's blleding doesn't mean he's in trouble. He can use some white magic you know," Gippal assured the pair who were growing increasingly paranoid and visibly nervous.

"No. He's gone…" A shiver ran done Gippal's spine, a sensation that was becoming too familiar to him, at the sound of the voice. It was so familiar he found it hard to believe the words that it brought, almost refused to believe in the finality of them. Turning around his eyes confirmed what he already knew to be true. Long silver hair, a white kimono, and a long ominous sword laying across his lap were characteristics that described only one person Gippal knew.

"Lusniec… what are you doing here?" Gippal questioned warily as he looked the dangerous former Angel over. Although Lusniec wasn't holding his sword, he knew first hand how fast the man could unsheathe it and cover the distance between them.

"I felt it. I still can't believe Ryan got so powerful and still lost…" the Angel whispered into the wind as it rose in a mournful moan around them. "Gippal, do you still have the ability to get in touch with everyone?"

"Yeah… why…?" Gippal's heart rate must've doubled. How many times had Lusniec tried to kill the gods in the past? He wouldn't just give this psycho where they were after all that. Why would this situation be any different then back then?

Lusniec turned an annoyed, almost mocking gaze on the Al Bhed. "Whoever did this is powerful. Probably stronger than me," Lusniec stated with a worried expression. "If that's the case they'll start targeting the gods next. You think they'll stand a chance alone and unwarned about this?" he frowned at the Al Bhed. "Besides, Ryan was a friend to most of them. Isn't that reason enough to let them know?"

xXx

Sakura frowned as she pulled the wash off the line outside her small hut while looking up at the sky. It was painfully bright out and starting to annoy her while she was doing the laundry. What she wouldn't have given to have a washer and drier again. Amazing the things that people took for granted until they were gone.

Folding the last pair of jeans up and placing them in the basket carefully she waved at Yuna as the high summoner appeared in her own doorway with a wash basket. "Wouldn't it be nice if they learned how to do wash themselves?"

"Then what would we do all day to entertain ourselves?" Yuna replied as the pair giggled. It was true. Over the past two years there hadn't been any major threats to Spira. No running around in forgotten, forbidden, and cursed areas chasing after demented gods have given everyone a well-earned rest. Ryan, Gippal, and Rikku had gone to help Cid reconstruct HOME once again, Andy had gone off with a new friend of his to see what had changed while he'd been possessed, and Seph and Rea had gone off on their own, as well as JT and Melody though she suspected the two love-birds were they'd met for the first time.

Walking into the hut she and Matt shared with their daughter Elaine she placed the basket down and headed into the kitchen to grab a drink. It was hot out today, and the lack of clouds was not only annoying when she was outside, it made their hut relatively hot as well, though not so bad as outside. Still, she marveled at how Lu-Lu was able to walk around in black leather all the time. "Then again… her outfit isn't exactly covering…" she mussed to herself as she pulled out a bottle of water that was only half cooled. A slight grin spread across her face as she placed it between her hands and concentrated. Immediately the room's temperature dropped several degrees as she tapped into her power slightly.

"Darn it!" she hissed when she heard the cracking of water freezing quickly. She'd overdone it again. Ah well, in this heat it'd thaw in a few minutes anyway. Pressing it against forehead and running it down her neck she let out a content sigh. It felt great against her sun-baked skin.

A quiet ringing snapped her back to reality. Opening the bottle and sipping out what little water had melted she headed over to the small terminal that let the group stay in touch with the others despite the huge distance between them. She had to admit, she wasn't sure how they'd come up with a system more efficient then Earth's telephones and cell phones, but couldn't figure out how to make washers and driers…

"Morning, Gippal-sa…" her cheerful greeting died on her lips when the Al Bhed's face appeared on the screen. It was pale and exhausted looking, like something was wrong. Extremely wrong probably would've been a better description.

"Sakura, do you have a minute…?" Gippal asked quietly.

"Uh… yeah… what's wrong Gippal-san?" She asked gently as she sat down in the chair that accompanied the small desk the system was set up on.

"Its about Ryan…" Gippal started. His voice was so hollow and defeated sounding that the ice-goddess nearly winced visibly.

"What about Ryan-kun…?" She prompted the shaken Al Bhed uncertainly.

"He's… gone…"

"Gone? You mean on a vacation or something?" Sakura asked with confusion evident on her face.

"No… I mean gone gone. Farplane kind of gone…" Gippal stated sadly.

Sakura blinked at him absently a few times. Ryan? Dead? No way. This had to be some kind of bad joke. "That's really not funny Gippal-san… what would Matt or Rikku-chan say if they heard you saying something like that? You're lucky I'm the one who answered!"

"I'm not joking, Sakura!" the sudden flare of anger and anguish in the Al Bhed's voice sent the ice-goddess tumbling backwards out of her chair in surprise. The reality of how serious Gippal was hit her as hard as the floor connected with her head.

"Oh my god…" she whispered in horror. This had to be a bad dream, a nightmare that she'd wake up from any minute, turned to Matt and bury herself in his chest as she tried to calm herself down. This couldn't be real. Ryan couldn't be dead. There was just no way.

"I'm sorry Sakura… Lusniec's already confirmed it…" Gippal whispered in a strained voice. "The funeral will be at HOME in a month. I know it's a long way for all of you to travel but…"

"We'll be there…" Sakura assured him as she fought to keep tears from running down her face.

"Right… I'll let Rikku know… I'm sure she'll appreciate it…" Gippal murmured before the screen went blank. Sakura wrapped her arms around her shoulders as she leaned up against the back of their couch and let out a quiet, low sob.

"Sakura? Something wrong?" The ice heiress looked up to find a blurry form she could only assume was Matt coming out of the next room. Sturdy arms wrapped around her own and she let her face fall into his chest as she tried to stop the tears from streaming down her face. "Sakura… what's wrong?" Matt prompted again, concern lacing his voice as he hugged her a bit more tightly.

"Ryan-kun…" she managed to gasp out between sobs. "Ryan-kun's…" Immediately she felt every muscle in Matt's body tense up.

"What about Ryan…?" Matt prompted her gently.

"Lusniec-san said… he's…" she took his hand and squeezed it to help herself calm down. "He's dead…" she managed to get out finally.

"Wha…?" Matt asked with an uneasy laugh. "Are you sure he's talking about the same Ryan?"

"The funeral is at HOME in a month…" Sakura whispered as Matt's body began to shake. "I'm so sorry Matt…"

"Everything ok in here?" Tidus asked as he peeked in the doorway with a worried expression on his face. "Yuna and I heard crying so we figured we'd come make sure everything was ok…"

"Ryan's…" Matt took a deep, unsteady breath as he turned to face the blitzer. "Ryan's dead…"

"What…?" The blitzer questioned in disbelief. "My god… I'm so sorry…"

"The funeral is at HOME in one month. I'll see you all there…" Matt stated quietly as he stood up and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going Matt?" Tidus asked quietly as the Lightning God walked out the entrance of the hut, passing the trio before summoning his weapons in a burst of electricity.

Stopping and turning to look at the trio over his shoulder his eyes darkened and arcs of lightning shot around his body angrily. "Isn't it obvious? If Ryan's dead there's one person we know for a fact will know at least something about it. After all…" Matt's eyes narrowed dangerously, sending a chill down the spines of everyone in the area as the amount of lightning arcing around his body increased substantially. "If I'm going to hunt this bastard down, I need to know who he is."

"Matt wait"! Tidus shouted as a bolt of lightning shot down out of the sky, crashing into the area Matt had been standing and leaving nothing but a scorch mark to show that he'd ever been there.

xXx

"I was wondering when you'd show up…" Lusniec said quietly as lightning washed through his realm. "Try not to get any dirt on the floors; I just washed them awhile ago…"

"Who did it Lusniec?" The angel turned slowly as a wave of fire flashed through the room and let out a sigh. Despite having not seen the two in two years it wasn't hard to recognize them, though he had to admit they looked more like what people imagined gods looked like than they had the last time he'd seen them. Both had wide shoulders and intense, observant eyes that seemed to watch every inch of the room at the same time. Despite the fact that they were both wearing regular clothes, surprisingly both shorts and a t-shirt, seeing the pair standing side by side while giving off such an intense animosity, their weapons drawn and infused with their elements, made the pair look… well, divine. "We know you know who killed him."

"Yes… I do…" Lusniec confessed quietly before turning away from them and waving a hand. A shimmer appeared in the air between him and the two furious gods, causing them both to tense involuntarily. "Calm down, I've no reason to do anything to any of you. It's just a scrying image."

"What exactly are you scrying?" Andy demanded as the image wavered before crystallizing and shattering, peppering the two with harmless pieces of crystal that disappeared on impact. "Unsuccessfully scrying…" Andy tacked on with a sudden hint of uncertainty in his voice. Lusniec sighed as he stood up slowly, dusting his kimiono off as he turned to face the two gods.

"I was attempting to scry on our foes, who are rather meticulous in their defenses against such things," Lusniec explained with a shrug.

"Then I'm going to assume you know where they are?" Matt asked with an unnatural calmness given what he'd just been throughand the animosity he was giving off.

"Of course I do," Lusniec confirmed as he looked the two over. "I'm not, however, going to tell you."

"Why not?" Andy snapped, and Lusniec was fairly certain that he heard the sound of the enraged god's knuckles cracking as he instinctively tightened his grip on his weapons.

"You don't get it do you?" Lusniec asked calmly as he appeared behind the two gods in the blink of an eye while thin lines of blood began to trickle down their necks. Licking a bit of their blood off of his finger he smiled at them happily. "I'm _still_ stronger then you, and _they're_ stronger than me. Any questions?"

"So you think that by not telling us you're going to 'protect' us or something?" Matt questioned with an insulted tone. "Screw this, should've known better than to expect you to give a shit about getting revenge for Rya-" Matt's hate-filled statement ended with a sudden yelp of pain as his head and Andy's head were slammed together before the pair was sent hurtling into the far wall by a blast of magical energy. Grabbing a sword off the wall he crossed the room before the pair of gods had time to gasp in pain. Unsheathing it without a seconds thought he shoved it through the Thunder God's shoulder until he hand-guard prevented it from going any further and kicked Andy in the throat as the Pyro God attempted to rise and help his friend.

"I _dare you_ to even _consider_ finishing that sentence," the angel hissed as he let out a wave of animosity unlike anything either of the gods had ever experienced in the past. When neither of them did anything more than groan he nodded and pulled the blade out of Matt's shoulder, drawing a string of pain-caused curses to flow from the god's mouth. Lusniec ignored it as he cleaned the blade of blood and sheathing it while walking away from the pair. "Good. Now that we have that settled if you want to avenge Ryan shut up, go to his funeral, and pay your respects. And gather up the gods. You're all the bait we're going to use. Can't have you dying before we go hunting, after all."

The pair grunted before fire and lighting filled the air, signaling their departure. Sighing he returned the blade to its rightful spot on the wall and opened a door. Immediately an almost tangible darkness seeped out of the room, quickly filling the hard-wood room with purple and dark blue wisps of energy. Stepping into the room sealing charms burst into pure-white flames as he disarmed them to allow passage to the blade in the center of the heavily guarded area. Running a finger along the sheath he felt rage and hatred building up inside of him at Ryan's murder and Matt's comment about not wanting revenge.

"Don't worry, Demon… we'll get'em back for what they did to Ryan. You've been waiting for this for far too long…" the Angel muttered as he clutched the sword. Waves of hatred and impatience rolled off the sword as the energy it was giving off doubled and it struggled to free itself of his grip. Narrowing his eyes he gripped the blade tighter, flooding his own anger and rage into it until its struggles subsided, leaving in its place a feeling of intense anger and grudging submission.

Just like the good old days.

xXx

Matt winced as he and Andy reappeared in the warm air of Besaid island. Wincing in pain as he sent lighting arcing through his wound as he forced his somewhat ragged breathing to become more normal. That pant-less bastard, what the hell was he? Sure, he wasn't a full-fledged god, but Andy was and Lusniec had man-handled him just as badly as he had Matt. What _non-divine_ person could do things like that?

"Bastard…" Andy growled out in a scratchy voice as he rubbed his throat. "You ok?"

"I'll live…" Matt muttered back bitterly. He was furious. Hell, the dogs in the area were whimpering, and they were relatively used to him arriving and leaving in flashes of lightning. He wouldn't be surprised if Lulu and Wakka came out to see what was wrong at this point. Most of the village could probably feel the combined anger of the pair.

"Matt, Andy, where have you two been?" The gods looked over more out of annoyance that anyone would practically hiss a question at them, but stopped when they saw Lulu's face. There was more than just sorrow in her red-rimmed eyes as she hastily carried Vidina towards them. "Thank god, we were worried…"

"About what…?" Andy asked slowly as the two exchanged a confused look. Why on Spira would Lulu be worried about two gods?

"Well…" before the black mage turned mother could say anymore Sakura came bursting out and threw herself at Matt, wrapping her arms around her as the two slammed to the ground. Returning the embrace more on instinct than anything else he looked at Lulu in confusion. The black mage just smiled sadly before Tidus and Yuna made their way out of the hut Matt and Sakura called home, leading a weeping woman towards their own hut with pained expressions.

"Alright… I think someone should really tell us what happened…" Andy said quietly as he watched the trio disappear.

"Bad things come in threes, ya?" the two turned to look at Wakka, the typically energetic Blitzer looked drained as he rubbed his face. "First Ryan… now Seph… I don't think we can handle anymore of these…"

"Seph…? _Seph_ is gone…?" Matt whispered in disbelief. The thought of the dangerous, resourceful assassin dying in the same day as Ryan was… hell, the thought of _either _of them dying was something he couldn't handle. Who where they dealing with? What had happened? Maybe Lusniec had been right to not tell them where their enemy was. To take both of them out… it was unthinkable. He couldn't comprehend the power it must've taken to pull of something like that without anyone noticing. Glancing down as Sakura's shaking began to subside he kissed the top of her head gently. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere…" he told her quietly as he tightened his grip around her slightly. She nodded as she wiped the remaining tears from her eyes before resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'll be back. Damien needs to know about this…" Andy said quietly as he glanced at Matt. "Room in your hut for two more?"

"So long as you don't wake up Elaine…" he replied quietly.

"Right," Andy replied quietly as he a column of white flames engulfed him before flickering away a few seconds later.

xXx

Damien's green eyes flickered open briefly as a massive surge in magical energy, specifically fire magic, appeared next to him. The deer who'd been grazing nearby fled in panic as a wave of harmless fire flashed throughout the area. Letting a small smile slip onto his face he removed his hand from the ornament long sword laying at his side. "Well met, Andrew. What brings you to my fair glade today?"

"Ryan's been murdered. We need to go," the fire god replied in a voice as unyielding and grave voice he'd ever heard his friend use in a long time. A dark look crossed his pale features. His green eyes, half hidden by strawberry blonde hair, narrowed as he took his companions appearance in. The god, although not the most observant person he'd ever met, was completely focused on gathering Damien's things as quickly as possible. His movements were jerkier than usual, not the unintentionally graceful movements that Damien had observed during their brief travels together. Not to mention his throat was bruising from what he could only imagine must've been an extremely well placed kick to leave such a bruise without inhibiting Andrew's breathing.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I didn't know him, but I know you were close…" Damien offered as he stood and pulled the small pack of things that Andrew had missed in his haste to depart. "I must confess though… I'm not sure why a god such as yourself is worried. Ryan, while I'm sure he was powerful, shouldn't have been so strong as to be able to challenge us. Even if someone was able to kill him, wouldn't it be a relatively safe bet to say that they're only about as powerful as us?"

"We don't know. Lusniec says _they_ are stronger than he is, and _he's_ stronger than Matt and me when we work together. Not to mention that they managed to take Seph out as well." Andrew handed him the second pack full of things that Damien carried with him before registering that Yevon's successor wore a slightly confused expression. "The god of water's heir," he added quickly, for clarification. "Also, probably the most difficult out of all of us to kill."

"I see. Where are we going then?" Damien questioned as he dusted his jeans off, more out of habit than anything. Taking the bag from Andrew he shoulder it, praying silently that it wouldn't leave his only light, long-sleeved shirt smelling like the dirt it'd been sitting in all day.

"Strength in numbers. We're headed to Besaid," Andrew said before reaching out and clamping a hand down on Damien's shoulder. Before the god could protest a tornado of flames engulfed them. He clenched his eyes shut at the sudden increase in heat and brightness and even prepared himself for the pain of being burned alive despite the fact that he knew Andrew's flames wouldn't hurt him in this case. It didn't take long, only a handful of seconds, however when Damien felt solid ground beneath his feet as opposed to the disorienting sensation of being weightless that accompanied transporting he couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh. He wasn't used to such unusual methods of travel yet, after all.

When he finally summoned the willpower to open his eyes he was greeted with a scene he found significantly less pleasant than the glade he'd been resting in. Although only two people were outside, neither of whom he'd ever met nor seen before in his life, the pain visible on their faces was devastating. The black-haired woman with a skirt made of belts and a shirt that revealed entirely too much was resting her head on the extremely tanned shoulder of a man with the most outrages, and _orange_ hair Damien had ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on. Both their faces glistened in the sunlight as tears, albeit silent tears, raced down their cheeks as if Omega Weapon was residing in their eyes.

"Lu… Wakka…" Andrew said quietly as the two turned to wave them inside.

"Please… just don't cry in front of the children…" the woman whispered to them as they passed. Nodding, knowing full well that he wouldn't cry over the death of someone he didn't know, Damien barely even slowed as they entered the hut.

888

What to do, what to do? Not only Ryan, but Seph as well. He'd known that these people were dangerous, but to be able to kill both of them in one day was a remarkable accomplishment, by _any_ standards. '_I was right not to tell Andy and Matt where they're hiding…_' Lusniec told himself reassuringly as he strode through the dark corridors that lead underground. It'd been awhile since he'd been down here, and he hoped that his… "behavior" last time had been forgiven.

He really, truly didn't want to deal with an entire city of angry Lydc hunting him. He was too likely to lose his temper and collapse the cavern they called home at the moment, and he was going to need their records if the assault was to be repelled successfully. After all, _nobody _kept better records than the Lydc, especially about things that weren't supposed to have records.

"Halt." Lusniec sighed as a pair of spears melted out of the shadows to either side of him to cross in front of him, barring his way. Here it came. "State your business, outsider."

"Your reception is as cold as ever, I see," Lusniec muttered as he turned to face one of the two Lydc flanking him. He had to bite back his anger. Every part of him wanted to just slaughter these two, and anyone else who got in his way, but that was suicidal. "I'm here to speak with your Elders. Out of my way," he replied with in an openly warning tone, driving the point home by letting his hand rest on the hilt of Demon Edge. The blade called out to him to butcher all of them, but he shoved the blade's bloodlust aside without much effort. It knew it was futile to try and force him to kill something, so it didn't even bother attempting to resist his well and fell back into its brooding silence immediately.

"No outsiders shall be permitted to speak with the Elders without first passing throu-"

"I swear on the lords, if you say I have to go through Benix's god-forsaken, time-wasting trial I'm going to strangle you with your own tongues," Lusniec growled as the guard who, much to Lusniec's surprise, didn't so much as flinch. "I've no _time_ to deal with the amusement of a long-dead hero when two of your precious "lords" have been killed already today. So if you don't want to lose the _rest_ I suggest you _get out of my way_!"

"Two of the lords have fallen? How, to whom?" this time the voice was most definitely not the emotionless, mono-tone voice of the guard. Quite the contrary, it was feminine and genuinely worried, and coming from the gloom up ahead. Glancing away from the guard he's been speaking with Lusniec found himself staring at a woman who's inquisitive and curious sapphire blue eyes were practically shinning out from behind her brown hair. An elegant violet dress covered her frame, while a brown-furred tail wrapped around her waist kept the somewhat lose clothe held firmly against the woman's, and as far as Lusniec was concerned Kitty had _definitely_ gone from being a teenage-girl to a woman since he'd last seen her, waist. She was taller than he remembered, though whether it was because she wore shoes with bigger soles, a bad memory, or because she really had grown he wasn't sure. Her hair flowed down to roughly the middle of her back, and was currently settling around her as if she'd just stopped suddenly despite the fact that she didn't seem out of breath and had made not a noise before speaking. Though he couldn't be sure her body seemed more toned than it had been before, and had in general developed into a rather alluring woman, a fact that was solidly confirmed when he noted several of the _extremely_ disciplined Lydc guards around him stealing glances at her that she missed or didn't care to comment on.

Though there was thing out of all the changes that the woman had undergone that caught his eyes the most though. Though it was hard to see due to the dark conditions of the cave, Kitty's long hair, and how little of hit would've shown from the angel he was looking at under even the best of conditions: a tattoo reaching just to the sides of her neck. He blinked in astonishment. Tattoos in Lydc society were a symbol of advanced social status, typically reserved for the uppermost classes. Last time Lusniec had been there Kitty had been virtually an outcast in society, the only one who was brave enough to stand against Yevon. To have acquired a tattoo in such a short time was, to Lusniec's knowledge, unheard of.

"Ryan and Seph…" Lusniec replied with a sad smile on his face as some of the light in Kitty's eyes disappeared. She bit her lip and nodded her head slightly as he continued, "As for who did it… that's a matter best discussed in private."

"Yes, I'm beginning to think so as well…" Kitty replied in a quiet, pained voice. "But before that, do you know when the services will be held? I'd like to go pay my respects…"

"I'm unsure as to when, or if, Seph's will be held but Ryan's will be held at HOME in a month," Lusniec replied softly.

"Thank you…" Kitty replied before taking a deep breath. The pained look in her eyes stayed but a stern, determined expression settled onto her face as she regarded the guards who had been standing quietly in the shadows. "Let him pass. That's an order."

* * *

Yes, its everyone's favorite Neko-girl! D But why's Lusniec going to see her? o.O; I'll leave that to your imaginations since right now I'm off to resume working on chapter 2 remember, reviews are loved 


	3. Chapter 3

The sight that greeted Gippal's weary eyes was one he hadn't expected to see so soon again

The sight that greeted Gippal's weary eyes was one he hadn't expected to see so soon again. "There they are…" he said to himself quietly as he circled the Besaid beach for a good landing spot. In the end he couldn't find one and opted to land in the shallows, though he knew Brother would be annoyed by it. Brother would go off on him about how he'd just redone the paint or some other ludicrous reason that he should've landed one the shore rather than in the water.

At the moment though, as he lowered the ramp to allow the downtrodden group onto the airship, Gippal didn't really care. He'd only agreed to give a ride to them because he knew them personally. Had it been anyone else, even a close friend of Ryan's, he'd have told Cid to get another guy. He wasn't the captain of some chauffer service of something after all.

"Is Rikku onboard?" Gippal, who'd been staring at his feet until now, looked up to find a worried and upset half-Al Bhed looking at him hopefully. Just seeing the expression on Yuna's face sent a knife of pain right into his heart.

"No…" He said quietly as he looked away. "Everyone thought it'd be better for her to stay at HOME for the time being. Besides, she's so out of it she wouldn't have agreed to come anyway. I think deep down she still thinks he's going to come back any day now…"

"I see…" Yuna said in a voice that was ever-so-slightly more depressed. Gippal squeezed his eye shut before turning and making his way to the driver's seat.

"We'll be there in three days…" he called back to his passengers who simply nodded. "Yuna, I'll leave the tour of the ship up to you. You know it better than I do."

"Right," the former summoner said before turning to Wakka and Lulu.

"Why three days?" Matt called out. Gippal frowned slightly as he turned back to face the Thunder God.

"You don't honestly think that you're the only one who wanted a ride… did you?"

xXx

"Are you sure…?"

"This is quite an accusation you're making. Sir."

"Have you any proof that you can present here?"

"Yes, something like this is _impossible _to take on a leap of faith."

"You're all taking this half-baked fool seriously?"

"Could you _not_ insult me like I'm not here?" Lusniec asked with a frustrated sigh as he rubbed his eyes. He hadn't been in the Lydc realm for long but Kitty had been able to convince the Lydc council, their governing body, to assemble and listen to his news.

The looks they'd given him as soon as he'd started told him that they were firmly divided into a pair of camps on the topic. There were those in absolute fear that he was right and those who were in absolute disbelief of his declaration. Standing up from the lush seat he'd been sitting in since he'd finished telling his story he knocked on the table to get the attention of the collected Lydcs. "Now I can understand that you really don't believe me. I didn't really believe it myself until I took into consideration how power Ryan had become. There aren't many beings left around that _could_ kill him. Other than myself, I can think of only… two classes of beings that could do it. Of them the only ones that would bother with him would be the _Errdeahr Senger_ of the _Oloth_."

"This is _insane_!" one of the council members shouted as his chair flew backwards with enough force to shatter against the wall. "I'm through listening to this washed-up Angel's insane rambling!"

"Well, that's great and if you wanna tuck your tail between your legs and run away while shouting about how insane I am that's fine. It won't change a god damned thing when the Oloth come charging in here," Lusniec said without much concern. "If you wanna run go ahead. For those of you who want to survive this, I'll need access to all the information you have available on the Oloth. Immediately."

"Wow…" Kitty muttered as the room exploded into a symphony of accusations and curses. "I knew you were brave but did you really think that they'd just give you access to all that…?"

"No, but I need it. I don't have the time to teach the remaining 'Lords' about the Oloth and they _need_ to learn if we're going to survive this," Lusniec stated with a certainty that sent a shiver down Kitty's spine.

Tapping a finger against the table and ignoring the red-in-the-face council members she turned to face Lusniec fully. "So if them learning about the Oloth is so important what are you doing that you can't afford to make the time to teach them?" She questioned seriously, though the former-angel only replied with an amused smile. "You're… not going to tell me are you?"

"No, I'm afraid it's a little early for that," Lusniec said simply. "I do have one more thing to ask you though, given that this collection of fools aren't likely to give me any access at all to the records…" he trailed off and lowered his voice as he moved closer to her, "I need you to _make sure_ those ignorant morons learn exactly what they need to know. Can you do that?"

"You want me to go back up to the surface?" Kitty asked in an excited tone. "And meet back up with everyone?"

"More or less, yeah. Though I doubt they'll be in high spirits or anything like that all things considered…" Lusniec trailed off, though he knew that wouldn't bother the Lydc woman. Actually from what he knew of her it was only likely to make her want to go more. "So I can count on you to do that?"

"I'll be gone by the end of the night," Kitty assured with a smile. "Where will they be?"

"H.O.M.E.. Ryan's funeral is in la few days and they're all gathering to pay their respects and plan their next move," Lusniec explained in a hurried tone. He didn't want the council to know of any of this or Kitty's position, one he needed her to take advantage of, might be lost due to suspicion of conspiring with him. It wouldn't do them any good to lose their one connection with the Lydc. There was no doubt in his mind that when the Oloth attacked, the Lydc would be the major force standing between Spira and utter destruction. After all, with Sin gone there was no need for the Spirians to have a large army anymore.

"Alright, I'll be there waiting for them," Kitty assured him. That left Lusniec raising an eyebrow as he looked the woman over once more as he wondered where she got her confidence from. Even by airship, from the nearest connection to the surface it would take two days to get to H.O.M.E. and even longer if you attempted to go unnoticed. When the Lydc woman caught his gaze she just smiled simply.

"The humans have their toys and we have our own, Lusniec. And I assure you, our toys are vastly superior to their's since Sin wiped out most of their major cities," she explained simply. "A regrettable tragedy to be sure, but one that gave us the advantage in terms of technological power, but of course that eventually led to the development of their smmoning arts which the Lydc never learned. With the defeat of Sin they lost that ability as well, though. Frankly speaking our army is vastly stronger and greater in terms of numbers than anything that they could hope to muster."

"You've been keeping an eye on them, then," Lusniec stated as much as asked. His tone was amused and Kitty's overly-innocent smile made it quite clear that he'd hit the nail on the head. "Well than I guess it won't be hard for you. Good to know there are a few Lydc that aren't quite ready to forsake ties with humanity just yet."

"There never were many that were willing to, Lusniec. Its mostly just the ones in this room… and the fact that the others have no real reason to stand up to them for the sake of upholding ties with a race of beings they've never even seen."

"Well," Lusniec said with a slightly amuse smile. "That one I can understand just fine."

xXx

It'd taken them two days to reach HOME after they left Besaid. Along the way they'd picked up roughly another half dozen people, and among those were a few familiar faces. The first pair had Nooj and LeBlanc, the latter of which couldn't bring herself to crack jokes about the "dullwings" even once for the whole flight. Paine and Baralli also came with meaning that not only would all the Gullwings be there but all of the Crimson Squad as well. JT and Melody had come from Bevelle, though Rae and Seph seemed to have vanished into thin air about a week prior to their arrival and had yet to return. Brooke had been picked up over in Guadosalam where she had been on business, and Kimahri had made time to come with despite his responsibilities. Even Nick, who'd been enjoying the night life of Luca, had made time to come. And that was only the people that Gippal knew. Others, for reasons the one eyed Al Bhed couldn't fathom, were going so far as to cross Bikanel desert on foot in packs to pay their respects to one of High Summoner Yuna's Legendary Guardians.

Still, nothing prepared the one-eyed Al Bhed for the site that greeted him. From the looks of things Cid hadn't been expecting it either, as the Al Bhed leader looked more flustered and exhausted than he had when Gippal had left. Not that Gippal didn't understand the feeling.

"Auron… don't suppose you're only here to pay your respects, huh?" Matt questioned quietly from the top of the ramp.

"No," Auron replied in his usual indifferent tone.

"Hey, whoa, hold it! Someone care to explain how people are _still_ coming back from the dead?!" Gippal demanded as he stepped passed the crowd who'd stopped at the top of the ramp, jumping over most of it to land before Cid and Auron with an annoyed look. Pressing a finger against Auron's chest he continued, "You're friggin' dead, man! You've been dead for _years_, give it a rest already. We've got Spira covered so go take a vacation or something, alright?"

"Have Spira covered?" Auron asked quietly. "You have Spira covered, yet you all were barely able to stop a _ghost_ from destroying the planet? You, who can't even tell when you're being targeted by beings of power comparable to the gods, are telling me that I don't need to worry about Spira? You," Auron stated flatly, "haven't got anything covered. _That_ is why I'm still here."

"So its beings on the same level as the gods is it?" TJ voiced quietly. "That, at least, would explain why Ryan wasn't able to deal with them…"

"TJ!" Melody hissed under her breath, but the Al Bhed just rolled his eyes and continued on.

"So who the hell are these people?" TJ questioned. "I've never heard of anyone even close to the gods' level before."

"That isn't very surprising," Auron replied earnestly. "But this is a conversation for another time, with less of an audience. Besides, someone far more capable of explaining to than I is on the way. So until than pay your respects to Ryan and let the wounds heal. This battle will make Sin and Vegnagun look easy."

"Oh for the love of…" Matt muttered with a frustrated sigh. "Answer me one thing Auron. Are these people, or gods, or demons, or whatever the hell they are, stronger than Lusniec?"

"Probably close to his level and two would certainly be more than capable of killing him," Auron stated with a finality in his voice that sent shivers down the spine of everyone there. "But there'll be time to learn about that later. For now you should visit Rikku. She needs her friends at the moment."

xXx

"So they've finally arrived at their destination…"

Nergal glanced over the glowing, head-sized black ball that held a half-rotted eye in the center with an annoyed expression. The man sitting across from him was another of the Demon Lords, the Demon Lord of Pain and Suffering, Dazzen. A tall, lean man with dull gray eyes, a shaved head covered in scars, and knuckles that could fire shards of bone at will, Dazzen was beyond a doubt the most sadistic of the Demon Lords. Dressed in torn up jean shorts, worn leather boots, and a tattered tank top, Dazzen's grin spread from ear-to-ear as he stood up from his chair before addressing Nergal.

"Where are they?"

"Feh, always so quick to attack…" Nergal grunted as he flicked the ball he was using to scry on the biggest obstacle to their conquest of Spira. Immediately the image zoomed out, revealing their location. HOME, the lair of the Al Bhed and a certain late angel that Nergal still felt slightly giddy about killing.

"The lair of the Machina users. This… shall be fun," Dazzen roared with a laugh as he turned on his heels and made his way out of the room, laughing manically as he continued down the hall.

Nergal listened until the laughter had died away. With the way their own lair was designed the only way they would have stopped echoing is when Dazzen had exited the halls themselves and entered another room. In this case, the only room that Demon Lord would have been entering would be the portal room.

The lack of laughter was the signal for Nergal to resume his scrying of the gods. After all, the Demon Lord Nergal absolutely relished watching slaughters.

xXx

Something was off. Sakura wasn't entirely sure what it was exactly but she could feel it. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end, the air seemed to grow stale and become a little colder, the room seemed to fall just a little more silent and the falling water of the sink echoed just a little louder.

"You ok Sakura?"

The Ice Goddess went ridged at the sudden hand on her shoulder. She'd been so caught up in her own thoughts that she'd completely missed Yuna and Lulu walking into the bathroom. "Yeah… I'm fine," she replied with a weary smile. With everything that was going on she must've been more exhausted than she'd originally thought. After they visited Rikku she'd take a nap with Elaine.

"You sure? You look really tired…" Lulu pushed gently. Sakura smiled at the black mage appreciatively.

"I'm fine, Lu-chan…" she assure the older woman quietly while telling herself that Fatigue wasn't something for them to get worried about.

"Let's get going then. Everyone else is waiting for us," Yuna told the goddess as she turned, presumably to head to the door.

The second the hand left her shoulder a shiver shot down Sakura's spine. All of the things that had seemed off about the bathroom compounded, leaving her head reeling. Grasping the sink in front of her for support she glanced intently at the mirror. The polished surface was beginning to crack though that only served to make what it was reflecting even more terrifying.

"Well… I suppose you three could be considered 'unlucky' to be the first ones I encountered," a gray-eyed man with a shaved head full of scars declared smugly as he stepped out a purple hole in the wall leaking some rather unhealthy looking fumes. "Well… I always did love the way woman scream just before dying. Would you indulge me, please?"

"Run!" Sakura shouted as she whirled around, throwing Yuna into Lulu before raising an ice barrier over them as the man raised a clenched fist towards the two mages. Sakura was barely able to catch the horrifying sight of the skin over the man's knuckles rip backwards, spraying blood as something drove through the air towards the pair so fast that not even a blur registered in Sakura's mind.

The shattering of her ice carrier and a pained scream from Lulu did though. The Goddess' heart stopped for the briefest of seconds as her confused and chaotic brain registered the fact that something had completely punctured her barrier. Even Matt had never been able to puncture her barrier so easily.

"No way…" she whispered as she looked down at Lulu and Yuna in shock. The black mage's face was contorted in pain and covered in a mix of tears and blood as she grasped at her right shoulder which was bleeding badly. The high summoner was right next to the black mage, splashed in blood as well though Sakura couldn't tell if it was her own or Lulu's, and her hands were already glowing white with healing magic.

"Now, now little Ms. High-Summoner!" The man jeered as he glared at Yuna. "I can't have you going and ruining my fun by healing everyone up all the time. If you're going to do that you'll just have to join them on the ground!"

"You… you're one of the people who killed Ryan-kun aren't you?" Sakura asked quietly as she drew her tonfas. Even if he had managed to shatter her ice with… whatever he'd used, she was certain that her tonfas could withstand the impact.

"Ryan-kun? Who the hell is that? That what that idiotic angel's name wa-"

Sakura used the short conversation to dash forward. Summoning up what she'd learned from Matt and Auron over the past two years she encased the man's hands and feet in ice, stopping him from moving and creating another warning for whatever the guy shot out of his hands. Launching herself forward with all the strength she could muster out of her legs she lashed out with her right Tonfa, catching the startled man on the jaw with enough force to rip him free of the ice that encased his feet.

"Sakura-chan, behind you!"

Sakura's eye's widened in confusion as the man laid out on the floor in front of her disappeared without a trace as she was sent flying across the room as something powerful connected with her left arm causing her to scream out in pain. Before she had the chance to recover from the blow a second one came, though this time from the right, and she slipped into darkness.

xXx

Well that'd been no fun. He'd expected this goddess to last at least more than one attack. Sure he'd accidentally put her through a wall but that was beside the point. If this was all that Spira could offer as a defense than there was nothing to worry about, nothing at all. He'd eliminate all the gods right here and then he and his fellow Lords would be free to unleash hell upon the unsuspecting citizens of Spira.

"That's quite enough."

Dazzen's eyes widened in surprise as the sensation of cold steel pressed against the side of his neck raced through his body. Pressing a finger against the blade his face settled into an excited grin, his normally lifeless gray eyes held the foreign glow of anticipation, as he pulled his finger away to find it cut nearly to the bone from the slight pressure he'd applied.

"So that's the legendary Masamune…" he said as he stepped to the side and turned to face an expressionless figure he knew all too well. "Sir Auron, the _Legendary Guardian_ whom returned from the world of the dead not once but _twice_. What can I do for you today?"

"Leave or die. I don't have time for your games," Auron replied curtly as he shouldered his blade.

Dazzen felt himself begin to sweat. Of all the remaining obstacles this man, along with that insufferable wretch Lusniec, was the greatest. So great that, despite his supreme confidence in his own abilities, Dazzen wasn't sure he could kill the man before reinforcements arrived. If even one god were to be in those reinforcements Dazzen would be hard pressed to escape with his life, and as much as he wanted to hear the ladies scream more he did value his life.

"Very well than, _sir Auron_," he said with a smug smirk as the unnatural haze in the room began to swirl around him in preparation for the transportation spell. "I'll leave you be for the time being. Don't expect to get off so easily next time, though. I'm looking forward to killing you more than anyone else!"

And with that last warning the familiar feeling of being ripped into tiny pieces and tossed through dimensional barriers engulfed him and he knew himself to be quite safe.

xXx

"Sakura!"

Auron would've sighed as Matt and Andy came bursting in through the door of the bathroom without the slightest bit of caution. When would they learn? Weren't the deaths of Ryan and Seph enough of a warning that they couldn't be careless anymore? No, he'd let it go this time. While he was disappointed in the pair he understood their reason for alarm and lack of concern. To lose Sakura on top of Ryan and Seph would likely have been too much for Matt to bear and Andy wouldn't leave his friend to run into something that could be dangerous alone.

"She'll be fine," Auron declared as he walked over to the remains of Sakura's barrier. Without her maintaining it the heat of the desert was quickly melting it but there was enough left for there to be a clue as to what exactly had happened. Sakura was no magic expert, her specialty was clearly close-range melee combat, but for _anyone_ to be able to shatter her barrier with a single attack… It put the man's offensive ability on par with Lusniec's, at least. Wonderful. As if they didn't have enough problems with two of the gods dead.

"Auron, who did this to her…?"

"A demon," Auron replied without turning to face Matt. He could feel the lightning god's rage from halfway across the room and likely would've seen it in the form of electricity streaking across the room if not for the fact that he held his wounded beloved in his arms. "Likely not the strongest of our foes, either. If he were, Lulu would be dead right now, not just wounded."

"That man… he beat Sakura-chan so easily…" Yuna whispered as stood up from Lulu's side and made her way towards Sakura's, her hands still glowing white with healing magic. It gave Auron a little bit of hope to see that Yuna had maintained her magical abilities. After the episode with Vegnagun he'd been worried since she'd relied so heavily on the pistols strapped on her legs and so little on her impressive magical ability. "Are we really going to be able to stop them?"

"Without a doubt. If you pay attention." A vaguely familiar voice declared firmly. Auron raised an eyebrow and stood to his full height while turning to face the new comer. He was relieved to see it was Kitty.

"You arrived faster than he said," he declared with a hidden smile.

"Yeah, so go get your pencils and notebooks kiddies. School's in session, and if you don't want to end up a corpse we're going to have to cram thousands of years of history into your brains after the funeral…" the Lydc declared gravely. "But for now... heal your wounds and let's go visit Rikku. Nobody should be alone at a time like this…"


End file.
